Chaos in Harmony by Kevin Anderson, Rental Manager at Hurlbut Visuals

Being the gatekeeper of the Hurlbut inventory, I see all types of gear come and go every week. Sometimes for a day or two and sometimes for upwards of a month. It took no time at all for these cameras to travel to more countries than I have visited. In the same week, we had two separate kits return – one covered in sand and the other still defrosting from -20* weather. We have even had a camera get hit by a speeding Lincoln Continental skidding across ice…thrice! Needless to say, the camera and lens looked like they went 12 rounds with Tyson (pre-bite, not post-bite) but the shot looked terrific! That’s what I find to be most advantageous with these cameras and their rigging options. You can hang it from just about anywhere and make it look good, as long as you’re dialing in the right settings.

Being a kid from the desert, Malibu is one of my all time favorite locations to shoot.

My favorite aspect about this format is the constant need for progression. There is so much to be discovered. I feel we have handcrafted a system that embraces the pros and devises ways to counter the cons – all while in mid – sprint. Shane, and many others, have fabricated their own formats to better serve as templates for success. Every time I see a final cut of a project from a prior rental, I am utterly amazed by the potential of this camera. People continue to make the argument that this is a prosumer camera. I am not going to disagree with that, but my response is that there are Dodge Neons that can outrace Camaros these days. It’s not so much what’s under the hood, but who’s driving. If there’s no story or creative vision, you’re off to a rough start.

Earlier this month, I was privileged enough to have the opportunity to attend N.A.B. There was literally gear coming out of the soda fountains, tucked beneath my doughy slice of Sbarro’s pizza, and I even sneezed out a CF card. Seriously, gear was everywhere. It was nice to see how far this platform has come, but at the same time, the next draft class is getting ready to tally some stats. It’s beginning to look like a prime example of Darwin’s “survival of the fittest.” People love to comment on some of the drawbacks (converting HDMI to SDI, HDMI splitting, and general in-camera issues) but seeing so many creative minds looking for cost effective solutions made me feel that, if done right, this platform can secure a crucial role in digital filmmaking on a tight budget. I learned a lot in Vegas – what to expect from the industry’s upcoming big releases, the forward momentum this industry is gaining, and that blackjack just simply isn’t my game.

We have had several DPs with credible titles under their belts come through our doors expecting to see a “trend.” I can usually tell when I show them the first slice of our system. They mostly seem apprehensive at first glance of the gear. Piece by piece, they see it come together and flourish into a professional system. The light switch upstairs flips. The mentality changes. Another DP convinced. There are things I cannot disclose at the moment, but we have some serious plans for the future that will help solidify this medium as something to be reckoned with. “Chaos in harmony” is my favorite way to think of this camera composition. There is an abundance of chaos within the DSLR’s development and everyone seems to be reaching for that infamous cookie jar on top of a monstrous fridge. My best advice is to do your own trial and error research to develop something that works for you.

Below is what we typically include in a Standard Kit. We almost never rent this exact kit out as renters love customizing their kits and including add-ons, but will give you an idea of what we get started with in renting gear for jobs like “X-MEN: First Class,” BMW commercial work, and more.

Thanks, Sebastian. The Cinestyle is still fairly new in our repertoire. I would recommend staying tuned to the Technicolor website to see if they have any updates. They already suggest dropping the saturation to -2.

Kevin is one bad-ass mofo. He is in touch with every piece of gear on the market and can give you the best advice ever on what is available and what works best. Anyone in southern california owes themselves a trip to culver city to check out what Hurlbut Visuals has on hand. It’s literally a candy store of the latest gear, lenses, rigs, toys and shit that will be hitting months from now. I’m lucky enough to edit for Shane and am so happy to know I can stop by and see Kevin and get hands on with the the coolest complementary equipment available. Do yourself a favor and stop in, call or email him to get the low down on the newest and most cutting edge gear to make our story telling process easier and more manageable. Thanks Kevin for the awesome post! Hide the Leicas brother because I’ll be coming by to try to sneak one away from you! You’ve been warned! Vashi out………..

Hey kevin I hear your the guru of rigs so if im a lone operator and want to get a low profile rig that i can pull my own focus with. I am on the cheap side and dont know what style rig to get for all purpose shooting. Should i get something like a Captain Stubling or ManCam style rig or something shoulder mounted from Redrock or the Jag35 Field Runner (http://jag35.com/new/products/the-field-runner/).or something with a shoulder brace like the redrock event or the zacuto strike Thanks kevin i would really appreciate your help.

Hi Alex, it sounds like the Captain Stubling rig would work out for you well. You can pull your own focus and get some cool handheld shots. I love the mancam and have had some great times with it – that might work out for you too…just a slightly different configuration. However, if you’re looking for a shoulder mounted handheld rig I would suggest anything with solid counter weights. That’s one thing I see all too often are rigs that are ridiculously front heavy. The rig will be heavier but if it teeters on your shoulder without holding it you’re set!

Hey. I talked with you for a little while about borriwing one of these rigs for a short film i am working on, but for some reason all the communication stopped after I gave him my list. Could someone help please. Thanks guys

I had the opportunity to play with part of that gear at La Riviera Maya and I can tell you guys that it’s a very solid system that has been design to let you concentrate in doing your work and achieve your vision. By system I’m talking about all the stuff HV had put together to turn this $2600 camera body into a Filmmaking camera.

At La Riviera we put it on a tripod, on a JS fisher dolly, we used it hand held, flew it over the pool on a technocrane at 50 feet, we used it underwater, you name it… The point is, we always knew that we had have a system that was supporting us.. Each piece is there for some important purpose.

Hi Siddhu, thanks for being a regular visitor to our site! To mount the Leica lenses to our Canon bodies we use Leitax mounts. Once you get that baby screwed on you’re ready to roll. Zooms and primes use different mounts (6 screw holes (primes) vs. 10 screw holes (zooms)). Here’s the site for Leitax. http://www.leitax.com/. Feel free to email me at [email protected] for any more questions to help get you set up. Thanks!

I’m just a little surprised that you’ve been able to get the 28mm and the 21-35mm Leica 3.5-4.0 to work on your bodies because on the PebblePlace database it says that these lenses may or may not work on the 5D and are “iffy”.

I know about Leitax I just received a Nikon to Canon mount from them today! ;-)

Kevin:
Interested if you do a custom molding for the Pelican cases or pick&pluck? Would love to see a shot of one of the pelican cases laid out with the gear. We are reworking our cases here and would love some inspiration. Thanks.

Great piece Kevin. A friend forwarded me a recent article in the FD Times covering the Cooke NAB dinner and speeches, an interesting quote from Danys Bruyere:

“Today, that’s all shifted. Now, we can provide a 2,000 euro EOS with 100,000 euros worth of lenses, and 60,000 euros worth of monitoring. So that’s where our business is today. And that, for us, is the realization that cameras today are disposable. What stays is the glass. ”

Hey Kevin,
Thanks for the post, really useful. What is that piece of gear that you use on all your rigs right bellow the really right stuff clamp, and that has hole for rodes? Seems ace.. but I can’t identify the brand.
Thanks!

In the picture of the full rig mounted on sticks, where did you get the battery plate that allows the AB battery to mount directly to the Redrock microbalance plate? I haven’t found such a plate on Redrock’s website.

Kevin,
I am a long time admirer of Hurlbut visuals. In fact I used to have an office in a place where Shane once worked in Boston. I think he proposed marriage while wearing a knights outfit?
Any way, I have been wondering about a piece of gear I keep seeing in photos on the site. Can you explain the device that looks like a small pair of binoculars sitting on top of the 5D body. You can clearly see it in the photo on top page of the blog.